[image]
[title]Time Out sits down with the recently crowned Miss Thailand World, and takes a hand in her training by shooting questions pageant judges love to ask.
How would you define beauty?
Nicolene: Beauty is seen in action and how much you give to society. Beauty is what you do for other people and what you say to other people to make them feel better about themselves.
Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok
Why do we still need beauty pageants in the era of female empowerment?
Nicolene: I believe beauty pageants help society see how a woman can be empowering. One, beauty pageants are not just about beauty. A beauty pageant shows how a woman can be strong, how she can be smart, and how she can help other people and empower other women, so I think beauty pageants are platforms for people to see how empowering women are.
What is the difference between the beauty pageants in the past and now?
Nicolene: I believe that beauty pageants back then focused on the wrong thing. They focused on a woman’s femininity and how womanly she is. They focused on her curves, and they didn’t focus on their minds and what she has to say. Nowadays, we have shifted our focus because we now know that women have so much to offer. I feel that, in 2018, so many people see that woman have more to offer than just pretty hair and pretty teeth.
What would you tell the younger generation about women empowerment?
Nicolene: Women empowerment is not just empowering other women. It’s about empowering everyone, because a woman’s power from within lies in her femininity and how she is different. She has a power in her to use her inner feelings and her inner voice to change other people’s thoughts and their views. Throughout history, women have been seen as weak, women have been seen as just a side piece. I want them to know that we are more than that, and I want the children and the youth to know that they have a voice too. No matter how old you are,you have the voice and you’re able to use it. And we want to hear the voice of the youth. Sometimes kids grow up and they become adults too fast. We don’t understand the life of children anymore, and that creates the divide between the youth generation and the adult generation. So I want to tell kids and young girls to use their voice, and use it as a message because sometimes people don’t understand, and you have to use your voice to make them understand.
Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok
How do you respond to and cope with criticism?
Nicolene: If the criticism is constructive, I use it because I know that we can always improve ourselves. But if it’s not constructive criticism, I just leave it because, one, we have to take care of ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally. I believe taking care of your mental health is important, so if it’s bad criticism, I don’t take it. I don’t need someone else’s opinion to bring me down. I want to say that people should be careful with their words. Take care with your words because you don’t know what someone’s been through; you don’t know what they’ve gone through in their lives; and you don’t know the things they’ve seen. Be careful with your words because not everyone is like me who can just brush off the criticism. Some people take it to thought and take it to heart. I just want to say be careful and speak wisely.
Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok
Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok